The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1887-08-25


chahdise Weaddpeffsh, your commerce;
veuld cease, Your fact6rieS would
stand still, your.ciVilization would die,
md humaa existence would end.
What@u UNIVERSAL ruin would 1immedi.
ately' fellow Lett agriculture die,
and your great ships would rot at
their wharves. Let agriculture die
and your magnificent railway systems
would BECOME silent mockery, and
their myriad Of cars. would decay n
heaps of idle lumber at the deserted.
depots. TO the busy hum of your
manufacturing art, would ensue the
silence of the grave; and the burning
wastes of the African deserts would
be the fttest representatives of the
lifeless ruins of your cities and7oftthe
worlds ~desolation. EApplause.
lIaIft 1t be- true-and> it Is true-that
agriculture is incomparably the most
important avocation of man, no words
Of mine can sufficiently emphasize the
pfoprietysof this ca~uyocation of farm
ers. IF it be the art of all arts, the
science ofsall, sciences, the. life'of~adl
life, how vast. arei fits avenues for IN
creased benefits to mankind; how
countlesssar the subjects for investi-
cation and 1.-The possibilities for I'M
provementihF The value of every ray
of sunlight that falls upon the fields
and of every vine or growth that
shades It's surface; the value'of every
ton of manure and system of fertiliza-
5tion; the value of every improvement
in machinery and change in tillage;
the tendency of every law or govern
mental policy, state and federal, all
furnish fields for thought, investiga-
ton and debate. All demands in the
interest of the best efforts of men of
science and of practical experiment.
They summon to the investigation not
only all the powers of the c~ultivators
Of the soil; but the most sanctifed
capabilities Of the chemist, the philoso-
pher, the philanthropist, the patriot
and the statesman. TGreat applause.
And now I wish to a fact
as automatic as a proposition in the
Euclid and as true as the decalogue.
The plow-the pillow is the fore-runner,
the foremost evangel, the truest
prophet of the worlds civilization.
Loud applause.
The first law Of the Deity, the prime
necessity of humanity, the life prin-
ciple of all progress and development
is the tillage of the soil. Applause.
If this has to be r~enumerative, there
is a fundamental mistake, a radical
wrong somewhere. Where is it ?
What is it ? To search for it, and if
possible to find it; to understand it, to
conquer it, and uproot it, is the high
duty-the commanding obligation
upon every lover of his country or his
race.
TO aid in discovering this wrong is
the great purpose of this convention.
It does not become as your temporary
chairman to attemptsto indicate where
that evil lies, and to suggest the rem
edy. All that [ could with ~propriety
do would be to submit, in conclusion,
one OF two suggestions of the most
general character.
Let me then first state where the
difficulty or wrong will not be found.
It wilf4hot be found in your southern
climate, seasons or soil. / will not
say that the Almighty could not have
made a goodlier land than this, or
omniscience might have conceived
and omnipotence might have. created
a better country. Twill say, however,
that it did not please him to do SO.
Applause.
The beauties, the blessings and the
bounties of nature are found in no
zone in richer profusion. In the free.
dom from the extremes of heat and
cold in the infrequency of cyclones,
rain storms and parchiing. drouthss;2 IN
the uniformity Of it's seasons, tie pro
Effectiveness OF its soils and the value
OF its staples, it is perhaps without a
rival. OF all the countries that have
been tested by long experience, this
section combines more elements that
are sought and fewer that are Stunned
by intelligent men in their search for
profit in tillage and comfort in homes.
It is a land of sunshine without the
sunstrokes. It is, perhaps, a little
sunburnt but greatly sunblessed. TAP
plause and laughter. 5a-
If, therefore, we are not growing
rich as farmers. let us not look for the